The Brilliant Reflection - A Review of 1-12-2013 Sailing with Photos (Very Long)

[horseymike]

great review. thoroughly enjoying it. !

[librarylady19]

Sorry, auto correct at work! It should have said any outsider :)

 

Completely understand........I have the same issue.

You can eat outside at the Oceanview cafe or there is The Porch, covered but open air. There is always the option of room service on your balcony too.

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[Bosjoe]

Can anyone remember the name of the female bartender at the Molecular Bar? DH doesn't think it was Bar era....she's pictured a few posts back.,,.

 

I noticed it was a different person, when I was on her in December it was Barbara at molecular.

[Miss SeaBee]

We opted to sit on the upper deck of the ferry boat, even though it was cloudy and looked a bit threatening. The ride was a bit choppy, but not compared to our wild boat ride around St. Maarten the previous day.

 

We didn't take a lot of photos en route to St. John as it soon started to rain and we moved downstairs under cover.

 

The worst thing about the ferry ride was the awful narration by Capt. Jack. Not only was it incredibly loud, but riddled with opinion and inacurracies. He had comment on every unsavory character who ever lived in St. Thomas it would seem :confused:

 

Fortunately, we soon reached our destination, the lovely island of St. John. We docked in Cruz Bay, not too far from where the public ferry docks.

 

Our shore excursion included a walking tour of St. John, but we opted to skip that to head straight to our destination, Honeymoon Beach.

 

To reach Honeymoon Beach, you can take the Lind Point Trail accessible near the Visitor's Center, which was right across from the ferry stop.

 

Hi Sandi! We were planning to taxi to Red Hook and take the public ferry to St. John to hike over to Honeymoon Beach when we cruise Reflection in April. I had not heard about a problem getting taxis to the ferry. What was going on with that, and do you think we should also take the excursion ferry? What time did you actually end up at St. John, and what time did the excursion ferry return to the Reflection in the afternoon? We had kind of wanted the flexibility of coming and going when we wanted to, not on an excursion time schedule, but I don't want to end up without transportation to the Red hook Ferry. Can you fill me in on the details? Thanks so much! I am really, really REALLY enjoying this review!

[njw000]

Hi, thank you for the amazing reviews. Like you we are booked with Captain Bob on Feb. 25 and have opted to head to St John when the Reflection arrives in St Thomas. There are several cruise excursions to St John, can you please tell me which one you took? All the best!

[librarylady19]

I walked around Cruz Bay for a little while and then headed back to Mongoose Junction to meet Scott. Here is where the public ferry arrives:

 

 

Our ferry back to the ship was due to leave at 3:00 p.m., so we grabbed a couple of sodas at a little convenience store and headed over to the meeting point (there is a nice shelter in the shade where you can wait and watch the chickens!)

 

 

On the way back to St. Thomas we were mercifully spared the painful narration from Capt. Jack. We were served complimentary "painkillers"....could have used them on the way over:)

 

 

 

As the weather was much nicer now, we sat outside on the lower deck and enjoyed some great views. Goodbye St. John....can't wait to return.

 

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[Lois R]

.

Yes , all ships have bistro on five. Silhouette actually has all the same places as Reflection.

What do you mean by. "Man outside dining areas".MWe didn't eat in main Dining room as we were in Aquaclass.

 

Hi Sandi,:) Bistro on 5 is on all the ships except Century.

She does not have it.

[Lois R]

Hi,

 

We are going on the Silhoutte in June: is the Bistro on 5 on all Celebrity shps? Also, did you find man outside dining areas?

Thanks!

 

SeaWatch, The Bistro is on all the ships with one exception.

Century does not have it.

[librarylady19]

We enjoyed a much smoother and quieter ferry ride back.

 

 

 

 

Cruises ships at Havensight:

 

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

We stopped at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef to let off the guests from the resort who were on the ferry. Looks like a very nice place.

 

 

 

 

On to Crown Bay and the Reflection (we were the only shipped dock there that day).

 

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

There were a few shops at the port, both nothing we were interested in (the usual duty-free, souvenir and jewelry stuff) so we headed back on board ....

 

 

After a quick stop for refreshment at the Passport Bar, and a chat with some nice ladies from Toronto (more Canadians!!), we headed up to Deck 5 to enjoy the fresh air and the departure from St. Thomas.

 

We had a great view for sailaway here.

 

 

 

 

Goodbye St. Thomas...the next time we were on land would be back in Miami...

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

Hi, thank you for the amazing reviews. Like you we are booked with Captain Bob on Feb. 25 and have opted to head to St John when the Reflection arrives in St Thomas. There are several cruise excursions to St John, can you please tell me which one you took? All the best!

 

Hope you enjoy your tour with Capt. Bob (ask for Tyrell!!).

The excursion we boooked, strictly for the ferry, was the St. John Historic Walking Tour and Personal Leisure Time (STG-3) - $40 pp

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/asr/shorex/shorexExcursionDetails.do?productCode=STG3

 

It is definitely less stress than doing the taxi to Red Hook and getting the public ferry and actually gave us more time in St. John. We did see some taxis lined up at Crown Bay but they were empty so I think the reports from others that it was difficult to get a taxi at Crown Bay were on point.

We were back to the ship by 4:00 p.m., plenty of time for the 5:00 p.m. departure.

 

It is not necessary to stay for the walking tour, although our friends did this while on Equinox and enjoyed it.

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[njw000]

You're the absolute best - thank you!

[maggie.1008]

Great review Sandy ! Thanks for taking the time. I use your S Class spread sheet everytime I book now. Heather

[kasowell2]

Day 4 - St. Maarten

 

 

We did not get clearance to debark until right around 10:00 a.m. Following Captain Bob's emailed instructions and map, we headed out of the terminal and down the road toward town to the dock where his boat would be found. He had already left with another tour group but we were to be taken out by Tyrell, along with 2 other couples from Reflection. We really appreciate that he didn't just leave us in the lurch and provided an alternate tour for .....

 

Thank you for this info. We have now booked him for our upcoming cruise at the end of March.

[baby]

wonderful review

 

can you tell me if you went to any of the nightly activites such as disco night, 60 night or 50 rock and roll etc

[librarylady19]

Here's a link to our St. Thoma photos:

 

http://s1080.photobucket.com/albums/j322/librarylady19/St%20Thomas%20-%201-2013/

 

We returned to our spotless cabin to find our tasty cheese plate waiting. (This photo is from day 1, before we gave away the sparkling wine, but you get the idea...)

 

 

Time for a shower (love those AQ showerheads!!) and off to Molecular Bar for our customary pre-dinner cocktail.

Here's a photo of the 3G - gin, St. Germain and Domaine de Chandon ginger liqueur - this is no girly drink!!

 

 

We opted to skip the main show that night, Jamie Allan the magician, as that didn't sound too appealing to us. We wanted to catch the performance of the Reflection Orchestra at 8:00 p.m. in the Grand Foyer...unfortunately, so did many others. As I mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to get a good view (or a seat) for anything popular taking place in that area.

 

From these photos you can see why....the space is very limited...We are not big on dancing, but I can see if you did enjoy a spin, it would be very difficult to find enough room to maneuver around the red rose sculpture, stairs, other guests, etc.

 

 

 

 

It's a beautiful area, when there is nothing going on!

Form over function triumphed in this area!

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

As you can see in this photo, taken earlier in the cruise, there really is not a lot of room to move. One of my pet peeves was the fact that almost throughout the entire cruise, that ugly cone was sitting on the staircase!!

 

 

Unable to get anywhere near the railing to see the Orchestra, we settled for seats in the Martini Bar area. We had not been here all cruise as we enjoyed the Molecular Bar so much and somehow didn't take any photos of it consequently.

 

While we were sitting at the Martini Bar, enjoying our drinks from the Molecular Bar, we heard the Captain make an announcement about an emergency diversion to San Juan. Unfortunately, the PA system doesn't seem to be set to immediately cut off other transmissions, so we could barely hear the Captain over the Orchestra's music :confused:

The Orchestra got wind of what was happening and stopped so the Captain's announcement could be replayed. A passenger had to be airlifted from the ship to San Juan for medical treatment which meant we would be in a holding pattern for a while.

 

We did not go up on deck to view this, but heard about it later from others. Sounds like it was pretty harrowing, with a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the ship as the patient was transported up. I know someone from that group was on CC so could provide more details than I can. Important thing is, we later heard from the Captain that all went well and the patient was recovering.

 

We headed off to dinner at Blu, joining a couple from our Roll Call Royce and Robyn. Unfortunately, we weren't seated in Paola and Mustafa's section, but they came by to say hi!! Robyn had special dietary needs and said she had been very pleased with the accommodations made by Blu. Johnny, the Assistant Maitre D' consulted with her every evening to determine her preferences for the next evening's meal.

 

Here are the menus:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59368763@N07/6303627124/in/set-72157627905504343/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59368763@N07/6303627844/in/set-72157627905504343/

 

I had the seafood ceviche (ok) followed by the tortilla soup (very good) and Scott tried the empanadas (excellent) and the soup also. We both had the lamb shank which was very tender and tasty. Again, no recollection of dessert although I'm sure I didn't pass it up!! I didn't get any photos as I thought it might be a bit rude to be snapping away at dinner with companions

 

Following a stop in Michaels, we headed to the Theatre for the latenight comedy game show Liar's Club, featuring the comedian Steve Caoeutte, David of the entertainment staff and staff Captain Tasso who was particularly funny and charming!!

 

Off to bed after that....we had two whole days at sea to enjoy exploring the rest of the Reflection.

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[miXterOB]

Awesome great thread Sandi...pics, stories, tips...the whole enchilada.

I'll be bookmarking the thread for our VI stop planning later this year.

 

Thanks!

 

P.S....OMG...that Blu menu...now you're just being cruel ;-)

Not sure I can wait 'till December

Edited January 27, 2013 by miXterOB

[Freq Traveler]

Sandi, I LOVE a good Sangria. I googled it and there was a recipe on kct travel experts dot com / cruise_recipes just in case you want to make one at home. Sound ABSOLUTELY wonderful! That may be my sail away drink. Thanks again for your great review!

[MusicalBear]

I'm enjoying your review greatly. In three weeks we'll be on this beautiful shipl

I can't seem to find the Celebrity Today for Sunday. Did I miss something?

[librarylady19]

I'm enjoying your review greatly. In three weeks we'll be on this beautiful shipl

I can't seem to find the Celebrity Today for Sunday. Did I miss something?

 

Oops...sorry about that. The first 2 pages are attached, will have to scan the rest tomorrow.

[librarylady19]

Technical issues....will rescan and post Sunday's Celebrity Today tomorrow.

[librarylady19]

Day 6, Thursday - At Sea

 

We awoke to a warm, sunny Caribbean today and headed to Blu shortly after they opened at 8:00 a.m. Brunch in the MDR was to be held today, but we had not interest in going as a) we've been on other ships b) it has too much of a Black Friday at Walmart feel c) service is not good and d) did we really need to eat all that food!

 

After another tasty breakfast, we took advantage of the fact that the pool area was practically empty and enjoyed a soak in the hot tub and some time relaxing outdoors, something we rarely can do in January at home in Chicagoland.

 

 

 

We were even able to snag one of the seats for two!

 

 

This birds-eye view of the pool area was taken on sailing day...

 

I left Scott at the pool and went to join the Art Tour that was meeting at the Art Studio at 10:00 a.m. This was a very worthwhile and informative tour. I know there are also self-guided iPad tours of the art collection, but I enjoyed hearing about select pieces in the impressive collection from Faith, one of the artists-in-residence. It made me appreciate the care that went into selecting the pieces to form an integrated theme, "The Seductiveness of a Reflection." and Celebrity's corporate commitment to exceptional art and craftmanship.

 

Edited January 27, 2013 by librarylady19

[librarylady19]

Some of the artwork we visited included, the video installation in Oceanview Cafe:

 

 

"The Big Bloom" outside the Oceanview Cafe - Big Bloom

 

 

 

The "Finger Bowl" at the entrance to the Celestial Garden:

 

 

 

This beautiful piece Herrenchiemsee 5 by Dieter Rehm